The teenager's voice breaks the silence that hangs over the dozing, grey-haired figures. “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you,” she recites — “you'll be a man, my son,” finishes one of the pensioners, with a burst of recognition.

A wider definition of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is causing inappropriate diagnosis and unnecessary and possibly harmful medical treatment costing up to US$500 million in the United States alone, scientists said on Wednesday.

Many people hospitalized in intensive care for conditions like a heart attack face lasting mental deficits similar to traumatic brain injury, U.S. researchers said Wednesday, urging families to push for minimal sedation.

Fewer than a quarter of the people in Taiwan who have contemplated suicide have sought help from medical professionals because of the stigmas associated with the act, according to a survey released recently.